In 2021 we will trial a new approach to UKU Rankings where the result of all registered games are used to calculate a team's ranking points. This year, we will be mostly limited to playing one or perhaps two games in a day. In the future we plan to combine results from individual fixtures AND weekend tournaments to create the UKU Rankings.
Your teams can sign up to the Challenge League HERE.
The Challenge League is intended to provide the flexibility to teams to be able to play Ultimate in the way that suits them best. By changing the ranking system to introduce the ability to include results from more than just UKU tournaments, we aim to encourage more people to play and get involved in Ultimate at any level.
Playing your local rivals? Register the game as a challenge league fixture!
Two universities playing each other? Then register the game as a challenge league fixture!
Organised a match up between two schools? You guessed it, register the game as a challenge league fixture!
Basically if you are playing a game of Ultimate you can register the game as a challenge league fixture.
Simply sign up and go!
It’s completely free to take part in, all you need to do is let us know that your team wants to take part, and then you’ll have the opportunity to set up fixtures with the other teams that have signed up. Details below!
Once you and your opponent have arranged a date/time to play, and the home team has booked a venue, you will need to notify us when your game will be played (Don’t worry, we’ll provide you with a form to do that with too!).
After the fixture has taken place, each team will just need to log the score and complete their spirit submission. Every game result will be counted towards each teams’ ranking (more info on how this works is below).
We have put together the full set of rules and regulations that you will need to follow when organising and taking part in any fixtures: http://bit.ly/UKUChallengeLeagueAppendix
Everything from pitch requirements and game rules to dealing with drop outs is in there, so take the time to read it!
One important point to note is that there are initially no roster limitations on players moving between teams in order to ensure a team can field a viable team for a committed fixture and to support growth and development of players and teams.
In 2021, we are trialing a system based on ELO Rankings. This approach was originally designed for chess, but for example, FIFA now use the basis of this method for their rankings.
See this document for more details about how we're doing the ranking calculations for the Challenge League.
CHALLENGE LEAGUE RANKINGS NOW LIVE!
We've put together a mini-info series of videos so that you can find out!
Your teams can sign up to the Challenge League HERE.
Once you've registered, you'll be able to see all of the other teams that also want to play so that you can start to arrange games with them.
We want as many people to play Ultimate in 2021 as possible, and the Challenge League provides the community with something to take part in as an alternative to the usual events that we’d run throughout the season. Your team will need to cover the cost of booking the venue for your fixture, but how you manage that is completely up to you, and we won’t ask you to cover any extra admin fees.
UKU staff are doing work in the background though, so if you find the idea is working out for your club and if you would like to support the development of this approach, there is a simple way to make a Challenge League donation - click the button on the right!
Even just £1 per player per game, for example, would be a little amount that could go a long way. It's also something that reflects the amount that your club actually ends up playing and it could be pretty simple for team administrators to manage. But really the important thing is to get your discs out of the cupboard and play some Ultimate!
Please read on for more information. Every game can be a Challenge League game, but UKU Rankings are not directly linked to qualification for Nationals 2021. This means that you do not need to worry about your UKU Challenge League Ranking affecting your team’s qualification to Nationals and beyond. That said, realistically, UKU Rankings and Challenge League game results are likely to be used when trying to assess seedings at future events, just as we have always done with UKU Rankings / Tour Rankings in the past.